Gunboat diplomacy has been described as the extension of diplomacy by other means.

It has also been described in international politics as the “big stick” of diplomacy. It normally goes hand-in-glove with military force.

The best known example of gunboat diplomacy and sabre-rattling is the “Don Pacifico” case in Greece in 1850. David Pacifico was a Portuguese Jewish businessman trading in Athens.

In 1847, an anti-Semitic Greek mob, which included the sons of a Greek cabinet minister, burned Pacifico’s house down and also burned copies of a book Pacifico had authored.

They were unaware that by being born in Gibraltar, Pacifico held British citizenship.

Lord Palmerston was Britain’s foreign minister and in 1850 he rerouted a Royal Navy squadron of warships into the Aegean Sea to seek retribution by blockading entry to the port, seizing Greek ships and threatening to shell the Greek port of Piraeus and the city of Athens.

Greek shipping was blockaded for three months. In the end, Pacifico received handsome cash rewards, which permitted him to live comfortably in London for the rest of his life.

Palmerston came under heavy fire in Parliament. The House of Lords supported his rash action, but the House of Commons, by a narrow margin, did not.

In his defence, Palmerton delivered a seven-hour tub-thumping speech.

He said: "As the Roman, in days of old, held himself free from indignity, when he could say, 'civis Romanus sum' ('I am a Roman citizen'), so also a British subject, in whatever land he may be, shall feel confident that the watchful eye and the strong arm of England will protect him from injustice and wrong."

History is replete with examples of gunboat diplomacy in the Western Hemisphere.

U.S. president James Monroe was first among 19th century leaders to legitimize gunboat diplomacy. In his now famous 1823 message to Congress, he warned all nations of the world that any armed intervention against offshore Latin American republics would be looked upon as a hostile action.

The so-called Monroe Doctrine was probably uppermost in president John F. Kennedy’s mind when he blockaded and quarantined Russian ships carrying missiles on the high seas to Cuba.

U.S. gunboat diplomacy worked like a charm without a single shot being fired. The Russians blinked first, turned their ships around and made steam for Mother Russia.

Scarcely a decade went by without an example of gunboat diplomacy rearing its head.

In the 1850s, Commodore Matthew C. Perry led eight U.S. warships — one-third of the American navy — to Japan, and for an encore repeated his incursions in Korea, Hawaii and China. Some naval historians believe Perry’s raid on Japan was a prelude to Pearl Harbour — an early warning signal to Japan to beef up its defences.

U.S. army troops occupied Cuba from 1906-09. U.S. marines helped overthrow and occupy the government of Nicaragua. Marines ran the Dominican Republic from 1916-24. They chased Pancho Villa back into Mexico and remained there for three years. They occupied Haiti for 19 years, from 1915-34.

President Franklin Roosevelt was more comfortable referring to gunboat diplomacy as "our good neighbour policy."

The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency stuck its oars in Iran in 1953 and in Guatemala in 1954. Those are but a few examples.

The Marconi signalling station was located on Table Head, a 70-foot bluff in Glace Bay. One day a German warship anchored off Table Head. A German admiral and 12 crew members came ashore and requested a tour of Guglielmo Marconi’s handiwork. Better to take advantage of tailor-made research and save money.

An officer substituting for Marconi, who was away, repulsed a second request by eight German officers and 30 men. Again, they were denied because they did not have permission from Marconi or a company director.

For a short time it appeared there might be a punch-up, until Marconi’s surrogate called out his shock troops — 30 muscular, hard-boiled Cape Breton farm boys.

The Germans knew when to quit. The admiral ordered a quick about-face back across the Atlantic. Marconi’s technology was safe.

But was it Marconi’s technology?

There are lingering doubts that he was the sole developer of wireless transmission, and suggestions that he cribbed Nikola Tesla’s research and findings.

More on Table Head, Tesla and Marconi’s transmission across the Atlantic to Newfoundland in a future column.

Glace Bay-born Pat MacAdam has been a fly on the wall in national politics for half a century. He served as a spear carrier for prime ministers John Diefenbaker and Brian Mulroney, and as press officer at Canada's High Commission in London. He's in Ottawa (Bytown) now and can be reached at eyeopener_gatsby@rogers.com.